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Just gonna be some ramblings here today folks, though hopefully coherent? TBD.

So, on the horse front, things are good. Everyone is hairy, fat and covered in mud. We had a pretty big snow (20 inches!) last week and I got some time off work, during which I developed strep throat for the first time. I had some other such throat funk back in October. I generally don’t go to the doctor for the common cold, but if I have a sore throat that persists past 24 hours I go visiting. I have no patience for sore throats. So, needless to say, strep throat sat me on my ass. Luckily I had three days off for the snow anyway (yay for working in higher ed!), so I only had to take two sick days. Basically I went to bed Monday night with a mildly sore throat, endured all day Tuesday of a fully sore throat, told myself I’d call the doctor on Wednesday if things hadn’t improved. I woke up Wednesday with tonsils so swollen that they scared the med student at my doctor’s office later that morning. #strepthroatgoals ? Nope. It was far from my favorite experience. Doctor has determined that if I can’t stay healthy through the spring, he’s culturing whatever I have going on to determine if it’s a super resistant strain or something.

Mom, it did the thing again.

Apologies for my dirty window. Feel bad for me. I had to dig the truck out on Tuesday with my sore throat.

How does this relate to the horses? Oh yeah. I only saw them like three times in seven days and they remained healthy and well. Thanks guys. Since the snow reports were pretty dramatic, I plopped a round bale in the donkey field, in the barn with access from the run in for Paige and Joey, and in the corner field for the far field horses. Basically Joey and Paige have access to the corner field, but with the snow coming, I restricted their access and allowed the far field horses access to the corner field. This way, once the snow melted and the far field horses go back to binging on grass and ignore the hay, I can just close/open the respective gates and allow Joey and Paige access to the neglected bale. This plan worked like a charm, especially considering that I ended up needing to utilize it longer than the two/three days I anticipated that the snow would keep me away. If you’re wondering how water worked out, the far field horses retained their access to the creek. Paige and Joey had a 100 gallon trough full when the snow started, and it (and both the donkey troughs) are placed under the eaves of the barn, so whatever snow melted and ran off the barn made more water for everyone. Between that and the rain Joey and Paige didn’t get close to running out of water until the 19th. The donkeys never got close.

Corner field with temporary occupants.

So that is how my horses survived happily without my presence for an extended period of time. Obviously not ideal, but it was very nice that when I felt like death and was up there all I had to do was look them over for potential injuries and verify that everyone still had food and water then retreat to my cocoon of dogs back at the house. So yay that I got the plague when I was already prepped for low maintenance horses?

In other horse news, my big Clydesdale boarder went out on trial with a perspective buyer back around Thanksgiving. Prospective buyer is an eventer who was horse shopping for both herself and for a husband horse. Needless to say, Bentley is not exactly an eventer, so he was being considered for her husband. The trial went wonderfully and the PPE was pushed back because of the snow, but now that it has occurred, our minds were blown a little. Apparently Bentley has a decent sized keratoma in his hind foot, which will require surgery. Current owner was bemoaning the cost of surgery while I was thinking that was the least of her concerns since I had no intention of offering stall board for the amount of time that it would take his hoof wall to grow back out. Basically prospective buyer is keeping him and having the surgery done. No money will be exchanged though, because the cost of the surgery exceeds what his purchase price was to be. In the grand scheme of things, this is a huge win for Bentley. He found a great owner who is obviously committed to him. Luckily he’s young and otherwise very healthy, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t have a full life with his new people.

Also, baby Rudy went to live with my dear friend K. Back when both girls were pregnant, I told K that I would give her Chloe’s baby because I didn’t need to have SIX donkeys. After Remy’s death, we both kind of allowed me time to determine if I still felt that I wanted to part with Rudy. Despite him being a sweet little monster, I still don’t need five donkeys, so he left a few weeks after we got back from Lexington. K is obviously an amazing home for him, so I haven’t felt the first tinge of regret that he’s not with me. In the same vein, a friend of K’s brought her daughter over to see him and the little girl fell in love. Basically they’re also very competent horse people, but the little girl is scared of their horses because of size, etc. Apparently all she’s talked about since meeting Rudy is wanting a donkey for Christmas. I told K a couple nights ago that if they were interested, Russell could go live with them and fulfill the little girl’s donkey dreams. They’re coming to look at him after Christmas. So if that works out, I’ll be down to Emma, Chloe and Poppy, which is a good number. I love my donkeys, but they serve very few purposes, and the costs add up when you’re talking about having 8 sets of equine feet maintained appropriately.

Speaking of equine feet…

Paige is still off. Not as bad as she was, but it is still there. Current game plan is to get through Christmas and paying personal property taxes in January, then I’ll take her to the vet school for a full work up to see what is going on. Copper has been pasture sound as well. He’s due a reset, but farrier’s wife had a baby and between that and the weather and Christmas stuff going on, scheduling has been complicated. I anticipate we’ll get it done next week after Christmas. Robin, Emma, and Paige all need trims too.

Shew. I think that’s enough of an update for today? There are exciting things coming for 2019, especially as far as showing Joey is concerned. I’ll do a post about things to come as we get closer to the new year! Happy Holidays all!

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Hi, I’m Sarah and I own a farm in rural SWVA where I board a couple horses and keep my small (but growing) herd. I use this space to chronicle my life with my four legged friends, both equine and canine and am glad to have you tune in! :)

Recent Posts

Paige is my most reliable mount. She is a 18 year old American Quarter horse. She is the mother of my APHA colt by Hollywood Reminic and the reason I still enjoy horses.

Joey is a 2017 dunskin gelding by Hollywood Reminic and out of my AQHA mare, Paige. I am very lucky to have this little guy to bring along and I look forward to the journey. He continues to exceed my expectations in both personality and ability.

Copper is an 11 year old Appaloosa who is remarkably versatile, but is unfortunately out of work for the foreseeable future due to lameness. We fought Lyme disease in 2016/2017 and in spring of 2018 he was diagnosed with navicular syndrome in both front feet.

Robin is a 16 year old breeding stock Paint mare that has been my big pet since she was a weanling and I was 12. If you’re asking who really owns the farm? It’s this mare. ;)

Emma, Chloe, Russell, and Poppy are the barn clowns. These mini donkeys have more personality than ears, if you can believe that. Poppy is Chloe and Russell’s 2017 baby.

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